Research & Discussion
General biography
Rejected legend
Youth 1888-1914
War service 1914-1918
Diplomacy 1918-1922
Service years 1922-1935
Lawrence's personality
Writings and criticism
Lawrence and book production
Film, TV, radio
Book reviews
Bibliography & Collecting
Obituaries
Discussion list
Rejected Legend
Countless fictions have built up around Lawrence's life. In the early years, he himself may or may not have been responsible for some of them. A further sprinkling have been mistakes by biographers who were carried away by some appealingly novel theory. The huge majority, however, started life because a journalist, or biographer, or someone who had known Lawrence, wanted to make money by publishing a new and preferably sensational "revelation". That process is still going on.
The purpose here is to discuss and dismiss such myths, in the hope that they will not be endlessly repeated by biographers and others who have no opportunity - or too little time - to examine them closely. An initial list of myths to be examined is given below. In all these cases the balance of evidence leads to the conclusion that they are completely unfounded.
Some of the legends that will be discussed here:
1911-14
That Lawrence was trained as a British 'Intelligence operative' while working as an archaeologist at Carchemish before the war.
Sources: Various, but notably P. Knightley and C. Simpson, The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia,1969
1917
That Lawrence failed to rescue Gasim, as claimed in Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Source: Jon Loken (writing under the pseudonym 'J.N. Lockman') in Scattered Tracks on the Lawrence Trail, 1996
1917:
Online: That a wartime document proves that Lawrence could not have been at Deraa in November 1917, at the time of the incident alleged in Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Source: Lawrence James, in The Golden Warrior, the Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, 1990.
1917 et seq:
Fictional testimony about Lawrence by Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen.
Source: R. Meinertzhagen, Middle East Diary,1959
1918 :
That the real name of Dahoum, known to be the central element in 'S.A.' (the dedicatee of Seven Pillars of Wisdom), was 'Salim Ahmed'.
Source: Tom Beaumont, in P. Knightley and C. Simpson, The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia,1969
1918:
That Lawrence met Dahoum shortly before the latter's death in 1918.
Source: Tom Beaumont, in P. Knightley and C. Simpson, The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia,1969
1922
That Lawrence recruited John Bruce to his personal service before the two met at Bovington, as Tank Corps recruits.
Source: John Bruce, in his unpublished testimony, and in P. Knightley and C. Simpson, The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia,1969
c.1922
That Lawrence attended flagellation parties in Chelsea 'conducted by an underworld figure known as 'Bluebeard.'
Source: (not named but in fact Colin Simpson) in Desmond Stewart, T. E. Lawrence, 1977
Early 1920s
That a sketch by Augustus John of a nude man, published in the TEL Society Newsletter No. 49, Spring 1999, is a sketch of T. E. Lawrence.
Source: the attribution was made at the Olympia Antiques Fair, 1999
1927
That in 1928 Lawrence served on secret Intelligence missions in Afghanistan.
Source: Empire News, 1927
Supplementary source: John Bruce, in unpublished testimony and in the Scottish Field, August 1938.
1935
That, shortly before Lawrence's death in May 1935, Henry Williamson had written to him to propose a meeting with Adolf Hitler, and that Lawrence's last telegram to Williamson to come 'wet or fine' implies that Lawrence viewed the idea with interest and perhaps enthusiasm.
Source: Henry Williamson in T. E. Lawrence by his Friends, 1937
1935
That the motor-cycle accident that caused Lawrence's death was not accidental: he was assassinated.
Source: journalists and others writing sensational material.
1935
Online: That there was a 'sermon' at Lawrence's funeral
Source: Tom Beaumont, in P. Knightley and C. Simpson, The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia, 1969
Chronology
T.E. Lawrence 1888-1935
1888 16 August: born at Tremadoc, Wales
1896-1907: City of Oxford High School for Boys
1907-9: Jesus College, Oxford, B.A., 1st Class Hons, 1909
1910-14: Magdalen College, Oxford (Senior Demy), while working at the British Museum's excavations at Carchemish
1915-16: Military Intelligence Dept, Cairo
1916-18: Liaison Officer with the Arab Revolt
1919: Attended the Paris Peace Conference
1919-22: wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1921-2: Adviser on Arab Affairs to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office
1922 August: Enlisted in the Ranks of the RAF
1923 January: discharged from the RAF
1923 March: enlisted in the Tank Corps
1923: translated a French novel, The Forest Giant
1924-6: prepared the subscribers' abridgement of Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1927-8: stationed at Karachi, then Miranshah
1927 March: Revolt in the Desert, an abridgement of Seven Pillars, published
1928: completed The Mint, began translating Homer's Odyssey
1929-33: stationed at Plymouth
1931: started working on RAF boats
1932: his translation of the Odyssey published
1933-5: attached to MAEE, Felixstowe
1935 February: retired from the RAF
1935 19 May: died from injuries received in a motor-cycle crash on 13 May
1935 21 May: buried at Moreton, Dorset